Tag Archives: BlogTalkRadio’s The Weekly Filibuster

Al Franken may have finally assumed power in our nation’s capital, but don’t expect fellow Minnesotan Jesse Ventura to stand and applaud.

The former governor: Frank appraisal of Al's potential.

Interviewed on The Weekly Filibuster, the one-time pro wrestler – who, as an independent candidate on the Reform Party ticket, ran for governor of Minnesota in 1998, won and served until 2003 – had few supportive words for the former Saturday Night Live player, who was sworn in this week as the junior senator from the Land of 10,000 Lakes.

When host Ben Goodman asks, “Will Senator Franken be a positive force for Minnesota?” the former governor replies:

“I don’t know. He’ll be a Democrat. You’re talking to the high priest of the third-party movement… It’s just another Democrat, in my opinion.”

But equal-opportunity tell-it-like-it-is’er that he is, Jesse goes on to trash the entire system.

“The Democratic and Republican parties control the whole game. They don’t let anyone else into it. That’s their main focus – to keep other people out, and to control it all,” he says.

The newly sworn-in senator: Wrestling with a retort?

“So will there be drastic change? No, there will be a shift to the Democratic side but in essence – you know, I taught a class at Harvard. It was How Pro Wrestling Prepares You for Politics.

“And one of the main things of that course was that, in politics, people portray something that they’re generally not – just like in pro wrestling.

“I become a character in pro wrestling in front of the camera. Well, the same holds true with these two political parties: In front of the camera, they tell you they’re adversarial,” adds Jesse, whose 2008 book, Don’t Start The Revolution Without Me!, was just released in paperback.

“Behind the camera, they’re all cuttin’ their deals together. You know, the whole chummy-go-out-to-dinner stuff.”